8 Strong Reasons Why You Should Use Agile Project Management

Read Time:4 Minute, 28 Second

The year 2001 will be etched in the books of history as a landmark year. 17 software developers set out to find alternatives to the traditional project management methodology in a ski resort in Utah.

The brainstorming and constructive discussion led to the development of Agile Manifesto, the jugular vein for Agile Project Management.

It’s over two decades and if you’re seeking reasons to adopt agile project management, we give 8 reasons to do so.

Let’s get there after uncovering the fundamentals of Agile Project Management.

What is Agile Project Management?

Agile project management is a time bound methodology that follows an iterative approach that builds software in increments from the start till the completion of the project.

It breaks down the larger project into phases into user stories and then builds the features in sprints which typically last 1-4 weeks.

10 Strong Reasons Why You Should Use Agile Project Management

If you’re mulling over the decision to switch to Agile project methodology from traditional project management methodology, here are 10 reasons to help you to make a decision.

1. Minimizes Technical Debt

Technical debt is the backlog of tasks necessary to maintain the current product’s functionality or viability. Technical debt refers to a variety of maintenance actions including error fixing, refactoring, and testing.

Agile software development maximizes the value of software and prevents technical debt. Defects, feature changes or other maintenance are added to a product backlog for review during a sprint planning session. The team determines what to address next during each sprint. They can fix defects along with new feature development in every sprint.

2. Quality par excellence

Testing is an inherent part of the agile project management process. Since, testing is carried out in iterations, the output delivered at the end of the sprint is a class apart.

The client is part of the development process during all phases including testing, designing, and coding. This ensures that the output meets the clients’ expectations.

3. User centric testing

Agile helps you build a product that is focused towards addressing the pain points of the customers. The user stories contain descriptions from the perspective of the end user. The product owner liaisons between the customers and the stakeholders and determines the product feature that serves business value.

4. Customer satisfaction

The customer is actively involved in the decision-making process which leads to customer satisfaction. Customer retention is a byproduct of customer satisfaction.

Feedback is taken regularly and corrections are made so that the product delivered to the customer meets expectations.

One of the Agile values is ‘Working software over comprehensive documentation’. The prototype is launched in the market and customer response to the product is gauged. The product doesn’t have to be built entirely. A beta test can be conducted so that product improvements can be made based on client feedback. This ensures faster time to market offering you a possible first mover advantage.

5. Better costing and budgeting

Traditional project methodologies had longer development cycles which led to costs overreaching the budget.

Agile reduces costs since the sprints are short and the deliverables are given on time. This improves the project predictability. The cost estimate is given to the client before the start of the project. This improves the decision-making for the features required and the possible additions needed later.

6. Sole focus on business value

Agile focuses on determining the most important features required by the client. The development team will focus on what’s important to the client and deliver the features that drive the business value.

7. Unlimited flexibility

Agile supplements development processes with flexibility. Teams work in short sprints and customer feedback is given from time to time with the Product Owner taking the lead.

Changes prove to be expensive in other methodologies due to their rigidity. Agile provides the privilege of short sprints that are both realistic and manageable to implement changes on the go.

8. Alleviates team morale

Agile teams are self-organized and independently managed. They are empowered to make decisions and have autonomy.

Take the professional Scrum Master training and become the certified Scrum Master to protects the team sponsors and management. Since the innate nature of Agile teams are cross-functional, every team member can grow by learning project management skills and grow in their current roles.

The team works as a close-knit unit by discussing the challenges and the potential solutions. This is possible because Agile teams are small in size.

Conclusion

Agile Project Management has driven results for organizations that were otherwise struggling. From superior quality product and customer satisfaction to enhanced team morale, agile project management has shown benefits that traditional project management methodologies fail to produce.

Author Bio

Naveen Kumar Singh is an Agile Coach and a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST), facilitates Scrum Master Training, Scrum Developer, Product Owner, Agile, Kanban, and LeSS Practitioners as well as provides agile technical workshops. Naveen is active in the agile community and participates in major events as a speaker and volunteer. He has also presented papers in Global Scrum Gatherings as well as in many other Scrum Alliance conferences and meet-ups.